CM HD Kumaraswamy warns Yeddyurappa of 2011 truth test repeat

MANGALURU:  A day after allegations and counter-allegations over the controversial audio clip, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said, “If it is proved that the voice in the audio clip is not that of Yeddyurappa or that it is doctored, then he need not resign, I will take political retirement.” Kumaraswamy was in Dharmasthala on Saturday. He also used his visit to the holy place to remind BJP president BS Yeddyurappa of the ‘truth test’ episode in 2011 and its repercussions.

Though visibly upset by the turn of events in the battle for power, he stopped short of throwing back the same ‘truth test’ challenge back to Yeddyurappa. However, he carefully chose words to warn Yeddyurappa of a repeat of the 2011 incident when he said: “I am standing in a holy shrine. In the past,  politicians who tried to play with Dharamasthala were cursed by it. Within one month, he had to resign. He took the protection of constitutional bodies but Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara did not come to his aid.”

Yeddyurappa, then chief minister, had challenged Kumaraswamy to take a truth test before Lord Manjunatheshwara in Dharmasthala to prove his allegations. Taking up the gauntlet, Kumaraswamy took the test before the deity stating that allegations made by him were true.

However, Yeddyurappa retracted from taking the test saying that then BJP president national president Nithin Gadkari had asked him not to mix politics with religion.Recalling the incident on Saturday, Kumaraswamy said Yeddyurappa had to quit the chief minister’s post within a month of the truth test episode and attributed it as a ‘curse’ on the BJP leader. 

I am standing in a holy shrine. In the past, politicians who tried to play with Dharamasthala were cursed by it. Within one month, Yeddyurappa had to resign. He took the protection of constitutional bodies, but Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara did not come to his aid.
H D Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister

Probe will reveal the truth: JD(S) state president
Chitradurga: Advocating the need of ascertaining the authenticity of the audio clip released by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday, JD(S) state president H Vishwanath on Saturday said that the probe will reveal the truth. Addressing mediapersons during his a visit to the district, he said that proper probe should be conducted for cleansing politics which has become dirty with the flow of money. On the issue of inclusion of his and Dinesh Gundu Rao’s names in the co-ordination committee, Vishwanath said that the committee was incomplete without them.